Gators have kept 'Cats blue

Monday

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- A week ago, it would have been classified as just another bit of gamesmanship from Urban Meyer to one of his SEC counterparts.

This week, it just sounds like the truth.

Asked about his impressions of Kentucky after taking over as head coach at Florida five seasons ago, Meyer gave his usual blunt assessment.

"With all due respect, they really weren't good," Meyer said. "When we first got here, they were bad."

Don't get Meyer wrong. He's not taking a shot. Sorry, he's ready to move on after spending too much time trading barbs with Tennessee's Lane Kiffin. Meyer called Kentucky coach Rich Brooks "a good friend" who has elevated the talent at what has historically been a basketball school into the "upper third" of the Southeastern Conference.

Yet for all the progress Kentucky has made under Brooks -- winning three straight bowl games for the first time -- there's been one considerable boulder he and the Wildcats been unable to move: beating Florida.

The top-ranked Gators (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) enter today's game at Commonwealth Stadium riding a 22-game winning streak against Kentucky (2-0), the second-longest active winning streak by one Football Bowl Subdivision team over another.

Only a handful of players on either side were even born the last time the Wildcats prevailed, a 10-3 victory in 1986. Back then Brooks was still trying to build Oregon and Meyer was in his first season as an assistant at Ohio State.

The coaches and players know the Wildcats are fighting more than just the Gators and superstar quarterback Tim Tebow, they're taking on history.

"None of the players on the team that I came in to coach had had those kinds of significant victories," Brooks said. "In the last 3 1/2 years, we have. As infrequent, unfortunately, as they have been, we have had them."

Perhaps none bigger than a stunning overtime upset of then-No. 1 LSU in 2007. The game-clinching tackle has become a part of Kentucky lore.

That team, however, was loaded with players who are now in the NFL. The current edition, while unbeaten, is still largely unproven.

Kentucky's biggest challenge, at least early in the game, will be convincing itself the defending national champions can be had.

Florida's 13-game winning streak is the longest in the nation, and Tebow has toyed with Kentucky during his career, combining for eight touchdowns in two starts against the Wildcats.

Maybe, but the Gators seem to play like it whenever the guys on the other side of the ball are wearing blue and white.

Florida's average margin of victory during its streak is 23.2 points. Only three of the last 15 meetings have been decided by less than 10 points.

The Gators, however, are treading lightly. Their aura of invincibility took a considerable shot after beating Tennessee by "only" 10 points at the Swamp, and Meyer appears eager to move on after his war of words with Kiffin.

"We went through maybe the greatest amount of nonsense in the history of college football," he said. "We're just going to try to win a game here, on the road."

The Volunteers gave Florida a variety of different looks defensively and managed to hold Tebow to under 200 yards of total offense. The quarterback turned folk hero expects the Wildcats to try and duplicate Tennessee's success.

"I'm sure we'll see a lot of what (Tennessee) did," Tebow said. "We just have to get ready for it. We have to go in there with our 'A' game. We have to be ready."

Even if the Gators aren't healthy.

A flu epidemic has swept the campus and the football team hasn't gone unscathed. Tight end Aaron Hernandez, wide receiver Justin Williams and running back Jeff Demps are among those slowed by illness and it's possible several of Florida's impact players could be slowed or sit out against Kentucky.

Brooks figures as well as Tennessee played, all the Volunteers really did is make the Gators angry.

"It seems like we always get them when they're mad," Brooks said.

Florida's 63-5 mauling in the Swamp last year came shortly after Tebow's famous pledge following a loss to Ole Miss to play harder, a vow that spurred the Gators to their second national championship in three years.

There were no such proclamations last week. At this point, they're probably unnecessary. The Wildcats know what to expect. Well, everything except a loss.

"You can't say a team is going to destroy somebody," said offensive guard Christian Johnson. "If you do, then there is no reason to practice. Florida is a great team, but we can't say we don't stand a chance."

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AP Sports Writer Mark Long in Gainesville, Fla., contributed to this report.

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